A different approach
by DEATHxCHAN
Summary: Story: My sister Text: Me Summary: Minako and Nyx are both stuck in an endless time loop, going through the same year again and again. They draw the logical conclusion and start working together in order to find the reason of this phenomenom and stop it.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This story is made by my sister, but I (the owner of this account) am the one writing it down. Funny, she's actually better in English than I am, but doesn't have the patience to write something like that.**_

_**A different approach**_

"Here's your room. Pretty easy to remember, right?" Yukari gave her standard, but slightly different speech. Minako only nodded while yawning. She wasn't tired because of the late hour. She was just tired of seeing this. Luckily she wasn't crazy anymore. THAT had been some weird years.

"Oh well here's your key. Don't lose it or you won't hear the last of it." Again she only nodded and opened the door and stepped inside. Before she could fully close it, Yukari interrupted her.

"Hey...on your way here, was everything alright?" the pink girl asked.

_This is the bazillions time I experience that night._

_I know everything about the dark hour and Tartarus._

_I know how to stop the dark hour._

_I...didn't..._

"Yeah, everything fine." Minako sounded a bit like Aigis. Before Yukari could retort, Minako slammed the door shut and locked herself up. She threw her bag in a corner of her room and buried her face inside the pillow.

"This has to work...please."

XIII

_Living forever? Where's the fun in that?_

XIII

Minako woke up fairly early for the time she was supposed to wake up. Her drilled body didn't complain as she stood up and got ready for the day. Looking in the mirror her reflection showed a tired, miserable girl, ready to do anything to achieve her goal.

"There's no need to put on a mask this time." she told her reflection. In all the millennia, which could be hardly called exaggerating, Minako forgot about a lot of things. The human brain wasn't a supercomputer that could store every teeny little bit of information and there's a reason for that. But that reason was irrelevant.

Minako forgot a lot of things. Her first kiss, her old friends from other places, did she even had any? A look at her cell phone confirmed it. What do they look like?

The only reason she remembered how her parents looked like was because she had some photos of them.

She didn't remember how the last town looked like she was in before returning to her hometown. Strange, considering she had been there just yesterday.

To sum it up, over the countless time loops Minako experienced she completely forgot her old life, with the exception of one thing: her original personality. Which she would use from now on out. Enough with the lies, she made friends even without pretending to feel what the others went through. Did she just pretend? After all, all that counted were some numbers.

She didn't remember.

She exited her room, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. Ignoring the 'script' as she tent to call it these days, she walked out of the dorm while Yukari was still busy changing. Yukari was the most cliché girl Minako ever met. She would if she would hang out in facebook with every free minute of her life. But for that her dad needed to be alive.

The air was cool and fresh and yet again it was a nice sunny day. By now Minako preferred the few times were it would rain because it was NOT CANON.

But in order to make things not canon, you need to be not canon. Instead of answering Yukari yesterday, she slammed the door shut. Instead waiting for said girl, Minako walked on her own accord to school. Would Yukari break into her room again? Maybe this time she should press some charges, just for the fun of it?

Moving on, instead of trying to get some answers out of Mitsuru, Minako had been in a bad mood and just wanted to sleep. Forever. Without waking up. LIKE IT SHOULD BE!

And finally instead-

"Ow!"

"Sorry, wasn't looking." The boy replied and helped her up. She identified him just by hearing his voice. Tartarus, by now she was good enough to identify people by a handshake. This was Kenji, the alternative magician social link and ramen lover extraordinaire.

"No it was my fault." Minako replied. "I need to go. See you later." she called him as she was already behind him. When you're forced to make friends over a few millennia, would you want to still socialize when you're free from it?

Minako arrived at school without any further incident. She wasn't even listening to her mp3, since there was nothing she didn't already hear over 10000 times. Beethoven. In all the times she never had anything from Beethoven on her mp3. Well, now she knew what she would download from youtube, if the side had those things. If not there were always other illegal sides. Or should she do it the legal way? She had the money after all.

The school grounds were almost empty, no surprise since it was pretty early. However Minako did make out Fuuka. No surprise there, bullies didn't arrive so early. Minako remembered the time she got Fuuka into fighting back and accidently changed her Arcana. Not reversing it, completely changing it from Priestess to Devil. You can guess that the following decades Minako spent on experimenting with changing her friends' Arcanums with unexpected results.

Minako knocked at the door of the faculty office. After 29 seconds of waiting, Ekoda opened the door. "Yes, what do you want?"

"Minako Arisato, I'm the new transfer student. I'm supposed to meet my homeroom teacher here." Like clockwork Minako's mouth acted almost on its own. Her entire body acted like a good clockwork, when it came to canon things. It acted like the best.

"Wait here." Ekoda ordered. When he was not rambling, she found he was acceptable. Or she would, since she knew what he would do in the future.

A few minutes later Ms. Touriumi opened the door. "You're the new transfer student?" Minako nodded. The teacher looked over her folder. "Minako Arisato, 11th grade correct?"

"Yes."

"Wow you've been in a lot of different places. Let's see...in 1999, that was ten years ago? Your parents...*gasp*. I'm sorry. I've been so busy that I didn't have time to look over this."

"That's what they all say." No seriously that was a fact. Minako had a few variant loops where her homeroom was different. And they all said the same thing.

Ms. Touriumi flinched a little at the girl's bluntness. Minako meanwhile showed no emotion whatsoever, because there was nothing left. She was empty, the number 0, the fool who did the most unreasonable thing all those years ago.

XIII

_You only appreciate the little things when you lose them. That's why I keep losing my cell phone._

XIII

No joke. This was the first time Minako bothered to listen to the entire speech of the principal. It wasn't THAT bad. Here and there a few corrections and it would have been awesome. It was just the way the principal himself spoke.

Class was the same as usual with the exception of Yukari giving her a glare. What? How should Minako know Yukari would be tasked with bringing her to school? She found the way all on her own. After all, there exist such things as maps.

"Sup dude?" Junpei gave his usual two-liner. Luckily she was saved by her cell phone ringing.

"Hello?"

_"I am at the Strip Mall."_

"Alright I'm coming." Minako was already out of the classroom, ignoring everyone around. "By the way, how did you get my number? I don't remember giving it to you."

_"Ryoji's memories." _Came the simple reply from the other line. "Makes sense I guess. Alright I'll be there in 20."

XIII

_I bet you can't eat more shrimps than I can in 20 minutes._

XIII

Minako arrived at the mall exactly 20 minutes later. She looked around a bit and found the person waiting for her. She wore what you might call a standard secretary outfit. Her normally long black hair was tied up in a knot. Her skin was pale, but it still looked good and her night blue eyes seemed to pierce through everyone who dared to directly look at them.

"What's up with the outfit?" Minako asked the older woman, who turned her head towards the girl. "I tried something new, but I can't say I'm comfortable with this." the woman replied. "I'm gonna get you a job where you don't have to wear this. Actually I think I'm gonna take the same, so we have more time to talk."

"I thought you're occupied with school."

Minako waved off. "It'll be outside of school time. Don't worry. It won't be a dirty job or anything. I'll tell you later more."

The woman nodded. She looked over the girl carefully once more. Minako grew a little impatient. "Where do we start?" she asked.

"We first must see what kind of effects our decision has. Granted I highly doubt we will be able to solve this within one year. But we both agree it is a step in the right direction."

Minako let out a frustrated growl but nodded. "I swear, I have the universe and you are a goddess. How come it didn't work?"

Nyx put her hand under her chin. Minako was referring to the last year, when they both combined their powers or at least tried. "We simply let the power flow. Next time we need to find a specific target, something we can lead it to. However I find the results of our first test more than pleasant."

"Tch. That's because you haven't been here for who knows how many times. But it makes things easier with you being here. Whatever it is we'll be doing."

"You're unusual grumpy." Nyx remarked. Minako let out a sigh. "I guess I'm just expecting too much at one time. And I'm really sick of waiting, you know?"

Nyx thought about that statement. "Well...I'm curious about those 'movies'. It sounded like a good thing to kill some time."

Minako thought about it. She didn't feel like dealing with the rest anyways and she had plenty of time until curfew.

"Sure, why not?" she shrugged. Better get Nyx accustomed to human lifestyle anyways. She had memories from Ryoji, but better safe than sorry. Not that she turned into a second Theodore in the end.

XIII

_If Karma really exists, than I'm screwed in my next life._

XIII

"Where are you staying anyway?" Minako asked as she and the goddess arrived at the dorm. "Don't worry about me. Just you play your role for a little longer."

"Yeah and next year I'll do the same and again and again and-"

Nyx slapped the girl, stopping her in her ramblings. Minako rubbed her cheek, but her facial expression didn't change. "Sorry." Minako took a deep breath before continuing. "It's all just getting to me. I don't have your god-like patience."

"If I remember correctly, you already snapped. What was that time with the pink hair, those balloons and-"

"Just. Stop." Minako held up both of her hands. "If you'd be in my place, you'd snap too at one point." Nyx chuckled at the memory. Minako did some weird things during the 'final battle'. It took her a lot of loops in order to regain her sanity.

Minako walked into the dorm, hoping Nyx really knew what she was doing. What was she worrying about? Nyx was a goddess. She didn't need any sleep. She probably would stay awake the entire night and do whatever gods do. Or she'd simply go to Tartarus and wait there for two hours.

"Where have you been?" Mitsuru asked.

"What are you, my mother?" Minako snapped. The days before the first attack she always was a little snappy. "I came here before curfew, didn't I?" Mitsuru kept her cool from the outside, being trained to do so.

Minako walked up to her room and slammed the door shut. She had now the tedious task of removing those stupid cameras. She didn't immediately go to sleep, but turned on her laptop and started looking for some new music for her mp3 until an alarm on her watch reminded her that the dark hour would strike in ten minutes.

Minako took some sleep medicine she saved up from a lot of loops. Whenever she felt it was too much, she just overdosed.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I hope you guys realize all questions go to my sister, right? Just wanted to make it clear. This is the last time I (the account owner) will make the AN. Yes it is yuri, but lemon? Meh, my sis is is 13 -.-**_

_**Okay, I'm pretty sure she already discovered lemons (seeing as how often she hacks into my account), but...maybe I'll make a one shot someday.**_

_**Anyways about the trolling...MAYBE.**_

Minako had been early to school again, because she just felt like it. She briefly wondered if her body became resistance to the sleeping medicine. Perhaps changing the mark would do the trick.

She just closed her locker and was about to go into her classroom, when she noticed Kirijo going through the hallway. The 'new' girl tried to ignore her sempai and just walk away. Maybe it would have worked if actually other students were present, but not so much luck for now.

"Arisato?"

Minako stopped in her tracks and sighed before turning around. "What is it, Kirijo?" Minako asked in an icy tone.

"I wanted to ask you if something happened, because-"

"Because my behavior doesn't add up with what's written in my file, correct?" Minako shook her head and didn't even bother looking at Mitsuru's face. She knew the reaction already and decided to turn around.

"Don't you think I've gone through enough already?" She turned her head. "It doesn't take a genius to link your family to what happened to me and my family ten years ago." Minako left without another word.

Today she just felt depressed, actually depressed enough for another spectacular suicide attempt, as in accidently using a real gun instead of an evoker. Well now she DID KNOW that Enduring Soul saves someone even when the brain gets damaged. Not that it mattered anymore. Maybe. Depends.

Hey, something to looking forward.

Again, waiting.

Minako slumped down on her desk in the classroom and waited for the day to be over.

XIII

_I didn't commit suicide in order to die again._

XIII

"Sup dude."

_Really? REALLY?! _Minako screamed in her mind as Junpei approached her during lunch break. There weren't many ways in order to get rid of Junpei. The only way that actually was available without making him your enemy was to close yourself inside the toilet for the rest of the break. The downside was it always caused a bunch of rumors.

"Go bother someone else." she simply said and put on her headphones. It never actually worked, but in all her years there had been always exceptions. She just hoped it would work this time. It didn't.

"Hell~o~o!" He pocked her, causing her to snap immediately. She grabbed his finger and a second later you could hear something break, followed by a high pitched girlish scream, which was even louder than Minako's headphones on maximum volume.

XIII

_The worst part is knowing that you'll never see them again._

XIII

"I won't apologize." Minako repeated to her homeroom teacher and the principal. Normally the student council president would be there too, but Mitsuru still needed to be elected.

"If he's angry, then he can go to the police and press charges against me." she continued on.

Both teacher and principal sighed. The principal cleaned his glasses in order to buy some time to think. "Arisato, are you tired?" Touriumi asked. It was a typical teacher approach in order to get to the problem. Only that a lack of sleep wasn't the problem here.

_I'm tired of you._

_I'm tired of this school._

_I'm tired of this life._

"Yeah, I already thought of changing my sleeping medicine this morning, but I need to consult a doctor first." She took out some medicine she HAD NOT been taking and showed it to the two adults. It was made of plants and you didn't need a recipe to get that kind of stuff. It was a tactic to buy time.

"If he would have just gone away, I wouldn't have reacted. I was just tired, nothing more, nothing less. Of course this doesn't excuse my actions, but I would say it can be counted in my favor, can it not?"

"No it can't! Violence isn't a solution."

_I thought I gave an explanation already about why I used violence. Meh, whatever._

"So, what now? Anti aggression training? A psychologist? Don't even mention the school nurse, 'cause I'm gonna make an appointment with a professional. You can't force me to apologize to whatever his name is. Did I forget something? Probably." Minako shrugged.

Touriumi and the principal sighed inwardly. They saw this was going to be a long appointment.

XIII

_Are persona users ever alone? They got someone inside them after all._

XIII

The solution was a totally childish one: blackmail. One week to apologize or else Minako would have to make some extra work. She didn't even bother listening beyond when they said one week, so she didn't know what kind of work.

There was no telling whether she would be in that school or not after tomorrow night. Most of the times she didn't join SEES she got kicked out, because the only reason for her to be in school was because of the shadow being inside her.

Up until coming back, her grades had been average. Some subjects she had been better and in some she completely failed, like anyone else.

Did she?

She didn't remember.

Now that she thought about it, if she ever managed to live on, she would probably be lost or would go crazy because of everything being new. Good chance she would just commit suicide when it was over. By now there was no hesitation anymore.

Right now she was standing on the moonlight bridge and staring off at the horizon. Why didn't she ever bother making a world tour? Oh right, contract bounded her. Well...

"Tempting isn't it?" Someone put both hands on her shoulders. Despite the voice being still new to her, she recognized it. Maybe she did because it was new. "Jumping, hoping it would all be over." Nyx sighed. "If only I could end a year like you. But Ryoji would never claim me, even if he could."

"Sucks to be the mother of death, huh? Speaking of, can't you just take him out? Like right now?" she asked.

"I could but you would either die or be crippled. In case you die it would simply start all over again and if you're crippled... well I would have time getting more personally accustomed to all of this."

Minako supported herself on her arms and sighed. "Nyx, if it ends with killing us all. Just do it. I'm not in the mood for saving them anymore."

"I think we already established that." Nyx placed herself next to Minako, supported herself on the barrier with her arms.

...

"How can you be so calm?" Minako asked at one point. "Where the hell do you get the patience to just wait until it comes? Is there some kind of secret or do you use some kind of trick?"

Nyx shook her head. "It's just my nature. I mean, I'll never die. It isn't impossible to kill gods, it's just difficult. It's impossible to kill me because of who I am. Not many beings share that comfort or curse, depending on the viewpoint."

"Curse, definitely." Minako raised her arm, like in a vote.

Her stomach decided to make itself noticeable at this point. Minako walked ahead and Nyx followed her immediately. "You know one time I tried starving to death. Needless to say it didn't work and it hurt a lot, but when I woke up with normal body weight and not hungry..." Minako shuddered. "Not going to repeat that, I can tell you."

Both entered Hagakure Ramen and took a table that just got free at the far corner. Minako ordered for the two before sitting down.

"I still remember that one time" Nyx began "Zeus had invited us all for a party, even Hades was there. Since Hades hated Zeus, he did all in his might in order embarrass Zeus. It ended up with Hades hanging from the ceiling of the ballroom in a comically way."

"Did Zeus found out?"

"No, my dad was so bored, he decided to prank Hades. And what better way was there to prank him, than to use the opportunity and let him fall for his own traps?"

Minako choked at her drink. "I shouldn't be surprised with Chaos being a prankster. But isn't that more Loki's thing?"

"You wouldn't say that if you would know my father personally. Actually...the last time I saw him is so far back, even I don't remember. He might know something...or be the one responsible for this altogether."

"Why would he do that to you?"

"As punishment for failing the first time?" Nyx suggested. "But there might be another reason."

"That being?" Minako asked, excitement rising inside her.

"He has dry humor."

Minako collapsed on the table after this statement, her sudden excitement gone like it never existed in the first place. "At this rate, I'm going to go back into cutting myself."

Suddenly Nyx had an amused look. "That remembers me of the time I cut off both of your arms and you said: 'It's just a flesh wound.' And then you grew them back. The faces of the rest are still fresh in my mind."

"Oh yeah. Good times, good times."

"Still, why did you say that?"

"Quote from a movie." Minako explained. Their orders were ready and Minako picked the two bowls up from the counter and returned to the table.

XIII

_Death means the end of something old and a new beginning. But without death..._

XIII

Minako got back to the dorm, right on the spot of when curfew started. A good reason to get actually out of this place. Speaking off, why was the backdoor always closed? It didn't make any sense in case of a fire. To prove her point, Minako once set the building on fire, carefully making the backdoor the only escape route.

Shinji needed to break through it and funny fact, in the end the door was the only thing that was left. Karma people, karma.

"There she is."

"So, this is our new guest."

"This is not my loop, I can feel it already." Minako muttered under her breath. Despite all she had done, this canon thing still happened? Luckily this wasn't the case as the door opened all of the sudden and Nyx of all people entered, holding something in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" Minako asked.

"You forgot this." Nyx held out Minako's cell phone. "Oh, thanks." Minako put the thing away.

"Excuse me for just entering like this." Nyx turned towards the other two in the room.

"Oh...no problem." The chairman assured. Nyx turned towards Minako. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Already?" Minako asked, but then shrugged. "Well not like I have anything better to do (like fighting for my life)." Then an idea struck her head. "Thanks again. See you tomorrow, Nyx." The smirk on Minako's face was only visible for a split second, but Nyx saw it. Glancing over to the chairman, she found said man a little distressed.

"Be careful on your way home."

Nyx waved off. "It's not like the shadows are going to jump at me or something." Nyx left the house. Minako walked over to the two sitting on the couch. "Friend of the family." she explained.

XIII

_Again? Really?_

XIII

Minako threw the camera out of the closed window of the third floor, because she could do it. They actually had the guts to reinstall them this loop. For all she cared, Mitsuru could pay for the window.

She opened the window and looked out into the cold night.

And then the dark hour came. It was hard to imagine a life without it, than with it. She knew for a fact it once had been normal living without it, but her mind and body didn't remember the 'normal' stuff anymore. In fact her brain kept saying there had never been a time without the dark hour.

The last month every year always felt so...surreal.

She looked over to Tartarus in the distance and sighed. The huge tower actually felt more like home, than anything else. Her thoughts trailed over to the Lost. What would it be like, being one of the Lost? Maybe Nyx knew the answer or could her make that way. A zombie Minako would be most likely more like the 'first Minako' than the 'current Minako'.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Heya there! I don't have an account name, but you can call me lil' sis for convenience sake. Thanks for the support and I hope we'll all die soon and happily!**

_**Without a mask**_

Today promised to be rather interesting for multiple reasons. Minako actually got up in a slightly better mood, meaning she only frowned and didn't broke anything after getting up. Be it on purpose or not.

Aside from all that, she still decided to skip school. After all she still had a 'doctor's appointment'. A very special doctor. Unfortunately she always needed to make new contact with him every new year. But she'd found a very efficient way to get him to give what she wanted: money.

Minako still took her bag with her, just in case some perverted cultist decided to search her room. Her weapons, armor and the rather illegal stuff. Some things were pretty deadly too. Well she did get bored over time.

She was the first one to get out, well aside from Akihiko, but he didn't really count. He would probably kill himself with his training in case he would be seriously injured. This time Minako would gladly leave the work of keeping Akihiko to Mitsuru.

"Isn't the way to school this way?"

Minako turned around and raised an eyebrow. She didn't expect to run into Nyx. "I'm skipping today. Need to see a doctor."

It was Nyx's time to raise an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Sleeping medicine." The girl replied and walked on with the goddess following her.

"Why did you want to talk to me today?" Minako asked while crossing the street. "You know about the attack tonight…you won't-"

"Yeah, yeah, we already talked about that! Anything else?"

Nyx sighed at the girl's impatient behavior. "I'm talking about an alternative way to solve this."

…

"Alright, I'm listening."

XIII

_All we can do is either move on or give up completely._

XIII

"How do you-"

"I thought you didn't ask questions." Minako put on another stack of money on the table. The doctor looked at the money. He didn't know where that girl got the money to pay someone like him or where she heard about him, but he could think of several possibilities. And she was right: he didn't ask questions. The money was all he needed and the stuff he was supposed to give her.

Too bad she most likely wouldn't be there for long, seeing as what kind of stuff she wanted. It was very strong sleeping medicine and you could get easily addicted to it just taking one pill too much.

Whatever he had plenty of other customers. He wrote down the recipe and gave it to the girl. "Oh and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I need a certificate for my school."

Unfortunately he couldn't charge much for that kind of thing. Almost every doctor did that without questioning.

XIII

_You could run your own drug business_

XIII

Nyx brought Minako to her penthouse. It was just a block away from the SEES dorm and pretty spacious. There weren't any personal things yet. A shelve for shoes, the kitchen had been there in advance and there was a bed in her room.

She also bothered getting a couch and a TV, but else the entire thing was just blank. Minako didn't find a word that was more fitting. Nyx lead Minako to a room with another bed. It was supposed to be a guest room and in case Minako would be thrown out of the dorm, she'd be staying in there.

Money was even a lesser problem for Nyx, than it was for Minako, since the shadows aren't bothering her.

Minako decided to make something for lunch. Nyx already bought some stuff the past days, but she didn't have any experience in cooking. Not to mention there was a chance things could end up rather….explosive.

It was the one time Minako tried out another weapon, an old shotgun. Apparently Junpei thought it would have been a good idea to change pepper with black powder. Include Fuuka's cooking skills and well….you get the gist of things, don't you?

The two walked afterwards out again. Seeing as there was still a lot of time left, Minako thought they might as well get the job she was thinking about now. In order for that to happen, Nyx needed to wear something else from the secretary outfit.

So the first thing they did was going shopping for some new clothes. Minato needed a new outfit too. The last ones she had were worn out and so she had frown them away last loop.

Minako wasn't even trying to remember whether she had been a shopaholic or not. Right now she was actually quite enjoying the company, despite Nyx being the whole reason of her problems. No that was not fair. No one could be blamed for just existing.

Back at Nyx's place they changed into their outfits. "Where again are we going?" she asked.

"Club Escapade." The girl explained, getting rid of her ponytail by pulling out her hairclips. Her long hair reached over her shoulders and looked actually quite beautiful. "I've heard the man I want us to meet will be there tonight."

"Heard from whom? I've been with you the whole day." The goddess pointed out.

"I've heard it from one of the staff working at the shop."

"What kind of job do you want us to get anyways?"

"As models." Minako replied, putting on her cherry red dress, which also was quite revealing, both her legs and her chest. "He's pretty shellfish and won't mind if I'm still a high school student. Modeling gives you a good amount of money and honestly, I find it easier than anything else. After all, you just put on some nice clothes, make up and fake a smile. Nothing I'm not used to."

"I see. Well, I think I might as well try." Nyx shrugged and put on her black dress, which was just as revealing as Minako's. Minako also put on some red nail polish, while Nyx did the same with black. Minako wore two golden bracelets. Nyx had a necklace with a green gem stone on it.

Both put on high heels and departed towards the club.

XIII

_Some live to die, some die to live. Does this make sense? It depends on the viewpoint._

XIII

Minako looked actually like an adult with lipsticks and loose hair and everything else. However it was Nyx who got the entire attention with her godly beauty. With her it was no problem to get through the bodyguards of the club.

Minako immediately started looking for Tanaka and found him at the bar, sipping on a drink and looking over the dancing audience. She did model for his company every now and then, so she had plenty of experience, as for Nyx, she was pretty adaptable.

"Follow me. Order something to drink and just look good."

"Hmph, it would be a challenge for me to NOT look good." The goddess replied a little smugly. Both walked up to the bar and ordered each a cocktail. Minako could easily handle a little alcohol, even if a little battle stood before her.

Tanaka's eyes followed the owner of the two voices and almost choked on his drink, when his eyes seemed to change into yen notes. All he saw in those two beautiful woman was a potential money source. He wasn't dumb, he could easily see through the make-up and everything else. She was a high school girl, but it would be a waste just letting this chance slip by.

"Excuse me ladies." The man approached the two.

"Ah, you're…Mr. Tanaka wasn't it? I've seen you on TV." The girl explained herself, faking mild interest. Whether the business man saw through it or not, she didn't know. It could be that her skills were a bit rusty.

"How may we common citizens help an important celebrity like you?" Nyx asked a bit seductively, showing a bit of her chest by leaning forward.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice the beauty the two of you are radiating…

XIII

_Either you're used or you use others, that's the way humanity works._

XIII

It worked better than Minako thought it would work. It certainly helped that Nyx charmed the man. Her senses were getting rusty too from overconfidence in her abilities.

Luckily there was no one downstairs when she arrived, so she could sneak into her room and get ready for the dark hour: getting rid of the make-up and quickly changing into her uniform and done. She wouldn't wear any armor or weapons, but an enchanted ring just in case things totally went down the dumps. No need to repeat the first three days.

She almost took her sleeping pills, but remembered luckily that she was supposed to fight tonight. She sighed as she realized she would have to wait for some more time until the dark hour would strike.

She took a short nap until that time arrived.

Yukari violently woke up Minako from her slumber. Everything went according to the script, including running downstairs and then upstairs. It was a good warm up exercise before the fight.

Yukari locked the door. "Phew, I think we're safe now."

"No, you actually just cut off our only escape route."

The shadow already climbed up the roof and came over the edge. Minako blocked Yukari's standard speech and her standard getting knocked out by fire. The times she actually managed to summon her persona made things complicated, as Minako needed to forcefully grab the evoker from Yukari before the shadow killed her.

Minako picked up the evoker. Now things would get interesting, after all, Minako didn't sign the contract this particular time. Although Igor had never the same explanation over and over, but she always had to sign a contract for whatever reason.

Minako looked the evoker…

…she brought it up to her forehead….

…and finally pulled the trigger.

*KLICK*

Nothing. No sudden headache, no burst of energy and no uncontrollably persona that came out of her head. She was completely defenseless. "Well crap…" she only commented, before rolling sideways, dodging a slash attack from the Magician shadow.

Minako threw the useless evoker and got up again. The shadow however lost interest in Minako and attacked the already unconscious Yukari. The seniors really took their time to get upstairs. It looked like Minako would have to test Nyx's theory without any insurance.

So Minako simply canalized her energy like she would normally do with summoning a persona. She did some training and meditation, but never actually managed it. And she wasn't stressed right now, despite being at the verge of death.

And it kind of didn't work, resulting into Yukari being smashed onto Minako. Finally the door was opened with Mitsuru and Akihiko storming at roof. Mitsuru didn't hesitate and summoned her persona.

A loud gunshot could be heard and Mitsuru's persona summoned bufu. The ice spell hit directly between the arms of the thing. Minako threw Yukari off from her and got up.

"Well this is rather troublesome, wouldn't you agree?"

Minako's head jerked around. "Nyx?! Why are you here?!"

"I thought we're working together now." The goddess shrugged and watched with amusement as to how Akihiko was getting his ass kicked. "Trouble using your powers?" she asked. "Yeah, are you sure I have those powers?" the girl asked.

Nyx connected her own mind with the one of the girl. _"Let me give you a little hand." _The goddess whispered inside her mind and Minako found a familiar energy coming from inside her. "You should only use some smaller spells for now in order to get used to it. Having the city destroyed would be rather counterproductive for our plans, wouldn't you agree?"

"TAKE THIS!" Minako shouted and multiple ice spikes emerged out of the ground, piercing through the shadow. She just casted a Mabufudyne in order not to miss any parts of the shadow.

"That's not what I understand under small."


End file.
